


Lowlands

by pyrsrun



Category: Buzzfeed Unsolved (Web Series)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Pirate, Biblical Themes (Abrahamic Religions), Character Death, Demon!Shane, Demons, Hurt/Comfort, Lighthouses, M/M, May add tags as I post the chapters, Not Beta Read, Pirates, Sirens, author is overly concerned with historical accuracy, but only momentarily, lighthouse au, set in the golden age of piracy, we bounce right back
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-09-28
Updated: 2020-10-21
Packaged: 2021-03-07 21:35:27
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 5
Words: 16,430
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26704582
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/pyrsrun/pseuds/pyrsrun
Summary: “Don’t you think it’s bad luck to play certain songs?”“Uhm? Of course not, they’re just songs” he answered with a chuckle “I heard it at the pub the other day, though I’m afraid I don’t know the words”Ryan simply nodded, and Shane took it as his cue to keep playing. Soon after, Ryan joined him with vocals.“Yo, ho. All together, hoist the colors high” he moistened his lips, and locked eyes with Shane, his tone getting lower with each word “Evil. Thieves and beggars. Never shall we die”There, in the ever approaching twilight, with the sea breeze caressing his hair, Ryan looked distant and ethereal, and Shane was overcome with a morose feeling.-Shane is a lighthouse keeper in a big merchant town. He lives peacefully in his quiet routine, but everything changes when he finds a man half-drowned in the rocks below.
Relationships: Ryan Bergara & Shane Madej, Ryan Bergara/Shane Madej
Comments: 66
Kudos: 106





	1. The Lighthouse

**Author's Note:**

> Hello there! Thanks for stopping by!
> 
> Quick disclaimer: this is a real person fic, because I enjoy their dynamic, and can't avoid seeing people as character tropes. That being said, please don't share this with anyone that may know the boys. If I hear word that this got to them, it would break my heart.
> 
> I tried to set this story around the golden age of piracy (1650 - 1730), but it will not be completely historically accurate. You will also notice that I avoid determining a geographical place like the plage, so just imagine what you like best.
> 
> Lastly, I choose a sea shanty/song for each chapter, and thus those lyrics are not mine. I will leave links to them in the notes at the end.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Quick disclaimer that I have no idea how lighthouses work. May Wikipedia protect me in these dangerous waters.

The storm was raging just outside of Shane’s window, but inside his small cottage, he was warm and safe with a merry fire going. He wouldn’t have to crank the beacon for another hour and didn’t have any plans of moving until then, flipping through a battered copy of Macbeth instead. While his eyes roamed the tiny print, his mind decided to turn to the errands he needed to run the next day.

While John was kind enough to drop by the oil for the lamp, Shane still needed to go to the market to buy some vegetables, milk, and maybe, if he was careful with his coin, he could even get a trinket or two. When he started keeping the lighthouse, the city was still new and commerce was just starting to pick up speed, but now it was known as one of the biggest merchants cities in the area and one of the safest to live in.

Fat drops knocking on his window broke through his reverie, and upon noticing he hadn’t turned the page for some good five minutes Shane decided to give up on the tragic king for now, trading him for the powers of nature. The storm only looked like it was getting worse and soon he wouldn’t be able to cross the small distance to the entry of the tower. Steeling himself with a put-upon sigh, he gathered his coat and hat and quickly made his way across the patio, breathing in relief when he was safe inside the lighthouse.

Shane painstakingly climbed the stairs, remembering humorously how tired he used to get going up when he had just started at his job. Reaching the watch room, he gave the beams a crank just to be safe and settled down cross legged on the creaky chair, resting his eyes in the roaring ocean below. If you asked him, Shane would say that watching for ships was almost like meditating. Breath in, the wave hits the rock; breath out, the water returns to the depths. He couldn’t say how long he had been there, but a figure crawling over the rocks grabbed his attention.

It took him some time to realize that the figure was a man, and it took him even more time to understand what that actually meant. Shane jumped from his chair. A man! Goodness, he needed to help him! He gave the beam another crank to be sure and bounded down the stairs reaching the rocks in record time

The man was laying on his back, looking for all like a drowned rat. He was wearing only an undershirt and a simple pair of pants, no boot, hat or belt on sight. Shane gave his cheek a light pat dreading the idea of having to breathe life back onto him, but thankfully, the man opened his eyes sluggishly and immediately turned on his side vomiting salt water.

“Hey.. hey there buddy” Shane rasped, voice rough with disuse, propping the man up and rubbing circles on his back. He still looked disoriented, but the colour was returning to his face.

“Fuck.. where am I?”

“The..uhm, lighthouse” Shane answered dumbly, pointing uselessly to the tower “Hey, what’s your name?”

“.. Ryan” he looked troubled with a frown between his brows.

“Hi Ryan, I’m Shane. Do you know what happened..?”

“Uhm..” he shook his head “everything is kinda fuzzy”

“Well do you know where you came from? Or where you were going?”

“Shane, I..” Ryan’s widened, reflecting Shane’s worries “ I can’t remember anything”

* * *

Ryan was quite a pleasant company once the panic had passed. Shane offered for him to stay at his cottage for a while until either his memories return or someone comes looking for him. He gave Ryan leftover stew, and when he was clean and tucked away in a spare mattress, Shane went back to the tower to finish his watch. The thought of him being a thief did cross his mind, but he quickly banished it. There was no way Ryan could be faking the drowning, and even if he was, it’s not like Shane had anything of value to be stolen.

The next day, they agreed to post an ad at the paper, asking for anyone who knew a short, Asian man, named Ryan who had recently gone missing, to come to the lighthouse. With that done, they made way for the market, passing through many stalls selling everything from, clothes to cheap jewellery, to vegetables and cheeses, which were the day’s goal. 

Shane watched amusedly as Ryan bounded from stall to stall, looking like a crow attracted by shiny things. He took a piece of paper from his pocket with a chuckle, and soon Ryan was unsuccessfully trying to peer over his shoulder to catch a glimpse of its contents.

“You know how to write?” he looked up curiously.

“Well, uh.. yes.” Shane said confusedly “Ryan, we did just put an ad in the paper”

“You weren’t the one doing the writing!” he huffed with a smirk “anyway, where did you learn? No offence but you don’t really scream upper class”

“Oh. I was a teacher once” and with this Shane’s eyes turned sad and distant and sad, and Ryan could read well enough to change the topic.

“And what does it say?” he nodded to the paper, “I think I never learned”

“It’s just a shopping list. Milk, flour, hard cheese” and from there the conversation took merrier paths.

* * *

If Shane decided to look back, a thing he was not really prone to do, he could tell you that the signs were there, but still, they were quite too abstract to even start to give a concrete figure. He and Ryan had reached a comfortable routine, sharing meals, fixing engines, and watching the sea together. Sometimes Ryan would walk around the city alone, but hey, the guy had his own life, even if he didn’t remember most of it. 

Still, sometimes he did some weird things, looking high strung and jumpy as if expecting to be attacked at any moment. Sometimes, dark sayings tumbled out of his mouth, going against his cheery demeanour.

On one occasion Shane wakes up to Ryan’s hand covering his mouth, with eyes wide with alarm and the other hand holding the biggest kitchen knife Shane didn’t know he had. Ryan’s palm slowly leaves Shane’s lips, and he crowds closer to whisper in his ear.

“Be quiet, I think someone broke into the tower”

He slowly retreats, bringing his pointer finger to his mouth to emphasize his point, and now it’s Shane’s turn to have his alarm colour his features, just awake enough to start to understand the gravity. Ryan silently backs away and moves to jump the back window so as to not draw any attention to the cottage.

Shane struggles to get up quietly, and starts to quickly put on his shoes thinking about the oddness of life, and how dangerous things can come up unexpectedly on a normally uneventful tuesday morning. Wait. Tuesday? Oh. Oh no. He sprints into a run across the patio, throwing the door to the tower open violently and bounding up the stairs, still being able to hear the echo of Ryan’s footsteps that reach the watch room.

When Shane finally reaches the top is to the sorry sight of poor John with a kitchen knife to the throat being threatened by his companion.

“Ryan, stop! It’s John! He comes by every tuesday to bring oil for the lamp!”

To Ryan’s credit he immediately lets go of the man, and turns sheepish, not looking at any of them, hiding the knife behind his back, as if not knowing what to do with it.

John, still quite visibly shaken, takes the opportunity to quickly leave, barely sparing Shane a glance.

“Oh, sorry. I think I might have overreacted” Ryan says embarrassed, still not meeting Shane’s eyes.

“Hey, it’s ok buddy. Who knows what kind of life you led before, right?”  
“Yeah, who knows” he says flatly, and Shane starts to worry he had made offense, when he smiles candidly and pats him on the shoulder “Thanks, mate”

They start turning to go, when Ryan spots two blurry figures in the horizon.

“Shane? Can I borrow the spyglass?”

He nods and hands it to Ryan, from where it had been seating neatly in a nearby table, who in turn takes it and moves outside, leaning close to the railing.

“What is it?”

“Uhm, apparently two medium ships. No colours.” he furrows his brow and looks up to Shane “Is it weird to see two ships sailing so close together like that?”

“A little uncommon, but not unheard of” he answers, motioning for Ryan to hand him the spyglass, so he can have a look too.

“How long do you reckon it will take for them to get here?”

“Maybe nightfall, give or take” Shane says pensively, and closes the glass with a satisfying clink.

They return to the cottage where the promise of a warm breakfast awaits them, and for now, that is the end of that.

Later that day, Shane is seating in the small area in front of his house, playing a tune on his harmonica, when Ryan approaches him. He had been skittish ever since the encounter with John, always fleeing the space when Shane entered it, so he appreciates the fact that Ryan seeked him out, and stays very still, afraid to spook him away.

“Don’t you think it’s bad luck to play certain songs?”

“Uhm? Of course not, they’re just songs” he answered with a chuckle “I heard it at the pub the other day, though I’m afraid I don’t know the words”

Ryan simply nodded, and Shane took it as his cue to keep playing. Soon after, Ryan joined him with vocals.

“Yo, ho. All together, hoist the colours high” he moistened his lips, and locked eyes with Shane, his tone getting lower with each word “Evil. Thieves and beggars. Never shall we die”

There, in the ever approaching twilight, with the sea breeze caressing his hair, Ryan looked distant and ethereal, and Shane was overcome with a morose feeling.

“I’m going out tonight, don’t wait up for me. Lock the doors to the tower before your watch” and with a pat to his shoulder, he was gone.

* * *

To say Shane was worried was an understatement. This was not Ryan’s first night away, but it felt different somehow, like if they left off on the wrong foot, even though they never fought. Shane sat with a leg under him, bouncing the other up and down and watched the dark night unblinkingly, even the sea incapable of soothing him.

Later he would be happy that his nerves kept his eyes sharp, because it was then that he saw the two ships from earlier round the corner of the bay side by side. Shane watched in horror as they hoisted their colours and instead of the flag of a nearby country, two jolly rogers grinned mockingly at him The one closest to the shore sped up, yellow skeleton against a black background flapping at the wind, and fired her cannons against the buildings closest to the beach, a fire starting right away.

Oh no. He had to go and find Ryan! If they hid in the basement of the tower they would be safe, the heavy doors would protect them. So Shane got up and ran to the main street at once frantically looking inside every pub and bar he knew, at one point he took up shouting Ryan's name in the middle of the street, masses of panicked people rushing past him with fierce looking men running after them.

Shane was running out of breath from both the exhaustion and the smoke from the fire getting in his lungs, he was disoriented, foggy eyes still searching for Ryan in the crowd, when suddenly there was a knife on his neck, and a gruff voice whispered in his ear.

“You better be very careful now Mr. Tinsley, we need you to come with us, but the wrong move, and it will be your last”

“You sure it’s him Zach?” a voice to his right says “He don’t quite look fancy to me”

“Must be a barleybun, plus he matches the description cap gave us”

“I’m warning ya, we get the wrong guy, and it’s your balls that we be throwin to the fishes”

“Aye, aye. I hear ya”

Shane was watching the exchange with rapt attention. He is surely not Mr. Tinsley, who Shane believed was the mayor, yet panic locked the words in his throat and he kept quiet throughout the whole thing. Soon it would not matter, because a bottle hit his head and unconsciousness met him.

* * *

Shane’s senses slowly came creeping back at him and he found himself kneeling in moving wood? Probably a boat then. He moved to steady himself, but found his hands tied behind his back with a thick rope and a bag over his head that smelled faintly of dirt. He could hear the waves as a backdrop to loud goading voices and yells. From what Shane could gather there was a discussion over certain parts of the treasure, who would get what and how much of it. So he was captured by the pirates then, no doubt about it.

Suddenly an unnatural hush fell over the deck, and Shane heard heavy footsteps in the wood that came ever close, until it’s owner stopped right in front of him. He heard shuffling behind him as if the men were too anxious to keep quiet. If even these hardened criminals were afraid, Shane was not eager to meet the person in front of him.

“So this is the mayor. Well, allow me to meet Mr. Tinsley then, boys!”

Shane knew this voice. No, it could not be. His ears deceived him, he would not believe it true...But then the bag was yanked out of his head, and his eyes met equally surprised ones.

Ryan.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The song that Ryan sings to Shane is "Hoist the Colours" from Pirates of the Caribbean! Not historically accurate at all, but I like it, so sue me. You can listen to it here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ecRcT6TPuCs
> 
> Now history notes for history nerds like myself!  
> 1) Ryan is surprised that Shane can read because in the 17th century, only around 15% of the poor could read and write, and only 30% of the men and 10% of women were fully literate. 
> 
> 2) The Jolly Roger that Shane sees is inspired by Ned Low's flag, but in yellow instead of red.
> 
> 3) Zach calls Shane a barleybun. A "barleybun gentleman" is 17th century slang for a rich man that dresses poorly.
> 
> Comments make my day! If you don't know what to say, please tell me who is your favorite pirate!!


	2. Answers

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Thank you so much for everyone who commented!! You are all so sweet.
> 
> In here: Shane finally gets some answers.

Ryan hates lying to Shane. This is quite new to him, since he never had much problem with it before. Being the captain of the Goldsworth brought no shortage of opportunities to lie his way around rich old farts and into treasure, but lying to Shane is different, it makes Ryan feel dirty and makes his skin crawl. Maybe it’s because they clicked right away. Maybe it’s because Shane saved him from drowning, maybe Ryan thinks he owes him. 

Maybe he just likes him.

No matter. Ryan is not going to abandon his crew and his ship for a keeper he only met over a week ago. He only hopes that Shane hears him, locks himself in the tower and stays safely out of the way of his plans.

Dusk is quickly approaching and if Shane is correct in his assessment, soon the ships will reach the small hidden beach on the left side of the bay, where Ryan will meet his crew to start the attack on the city. He only has one stop before making way over the rocks, so he bounds to the pub where Jacob managed to land a job as a waiter.

It was quite a nice place actually. Not fancy in any way, but clean and not smelling of piss like the rest of the establishments in that street. Ryan enters the pub, but stays close to the door looking for Jacob until they make eye contact. He then wordlessly leaves, moving to the alley behind the building. It isn't long before he sees the shadow of the man following him.

“Everyone in position?” Ryan starts without preamble.

“Aye, everyone in. We stayed round the pubs, and Lim’s folk are round the governor’s house”

“Uhm, good” he nods “Who did you put in charge of C.C. Tinsley?”

“Rye an Ike” and with Ryan’s doubtful look he continued “They’re good boys, they’ll get ya the mayor, cap”

Ryan accented relenting. Both Zachariah and Isaac were new in the crew, and definitely not the brightest, but he trusted Jacobs' judgment.

“Just make sure they get the right guy, it’s important,” he says with a sharp look.

“Aye, aye. Tall and lanky, big head, long nose. We got it cap”

“Thanks Jack” and with a pat on the shoulder, Ryan leaves him and goes to get his ship.

Once Ryan finally steps on the deck, he feels every muscle in his body relax and the sea settle again deep in his bones. The time he spent with Shane was nice and peaceful in a way, but he was already crawling out of his skin, too on edge with the weird silence and legs unsteady, unused with the land after being at sea for so long.

He makes way for his cabin then, and even though a few people give him a wave, no one approaches him. Most of the crew is quite new and is still a little anxious to make small talk. Ryan tries to remain friendly, but let's say that sometimes his uhm, reputation, precedes him.

Once inside he breathes a little easier again. He sheds the clothes he borrowed from Shane and puts his own back on. Ryan missed his coat, his rings and hat, but most of all he missed the pistols tucked in his belt and sword at his hip. Before leaving, he checks his maps again for the escape route. Once sure of the course he makes way to the wheel where he spots Teej.

“Everyone ready?”

“Aye cap” Teej nods grimly.

“Fire the signal”

Someone fires two shots in quick succession, and soon other two come from Steven’s ship. They were ready, the attack would begin. 

“Haul away, and hoist the colours!” he screamed and was met with a chorus of “Aye, aye captain!”

There at the wheel of his ship, with cannons blazing, Ryan never felt more at home.

* * *

After the raid is over, Ryan seats writing at his desk and takes a general stock of the spoils they collected. Soon he needs to go and talk to the prisoners, but for now his crew are probably still being loud, intimidating, and setting the people on edge. The longer he waits, the worse it gets for them, and that’s how Ryan likes it. A big part of being a pirate is the theatrics after all.

In the end, probably no harm will come to them. Ryan avoids being cruel, relying on intimidation for the most part. Among the prisoners there is the noble folk, there for their ransom, and people of different trades: doctors, cooks, carpenters, there to hopefully join the crew. 

Hearing the voices getting louder and deeming time enough had passed, Ryan adjusts his clothes and steps out of his quarters. Immediately, a hush falls over the deck. The prisoners are all huddled together in a corner, with one of them kneeling outside the group with a sack over his head: the mayor. 

He starts walking towards him, heavy footfalls echoing in the wood. The silence is so thick that you can hear the rustling of the sails clearly. Above the mayor’s head Ryan meets Jacob’s eyes and nods for him to get ready.

“So this is the mayor. Well, allow me to meet Mr. Tinsley then, boys!” he says with a smirk that is quickly wiped out as soon as his eyes meet a figure that is definitely not who he expected.

No. No it cannot be. Ryan already starts to feel a headache forming as he takes the sorry sight that is Shane in front of him. He has blood dripping over the front of his face from a cut on his head, and a thin slice on his throat, but the worse are his eyes, that are unnaturally wide with what Ryan imagines is shock. He has no idea how to begin to comprehend what this entails, how to proceed, which actions can he take?

Ryan quickly regains his composure, face going blank. He has an intimidation to complete here, goddammit. He straightens up, icy eyes calmly meeting his crew and settling on Rye.

“This, is not the mayor”

The young man immediately starts trembling and sputtering, and Ryan is thinking just what will he do now, when a shout comes from the huddle of prisoners.

“I am! I am the mayor”

An older, posh man moved in front of the crowd, as much as his bounds allowed him, and holy shit. His resemblance with Shane was uncanny. Tall, with long limbs, a big head, and a large nose. But the eyes were all wrong, and he wore a powdered wig that was lopsided from all the scuffle, far from Shane’s humble clothing.

“I am the mayor, and I demand to be set free at this instant!”

With a new prey in sight, Ryan stalks to the old man, looking down at him. Despite the change of position, he keeps his senses trained on Shane, wary of any harm coming to him. He still didn’t know what about the keeper fascinated him so much, but Ryan was like a moth to the flame, as if his light guided him when they were on the same space.

“Oh, that’s not how this is going down” he said turning back to the mayor with a sharp smile “I want a thing that I think only you can give me”

“I will not give a single penny to the likes of you, you filthy dog! I am the mayor! A word and I’ll watch you hang at the gallows while I eat my breakfast!”

Ryan clucks his tongue in displeasure at this and lowers into a squat, to stay at the other’s eye level.

“I don’t think you are quite recognizing me Mr. Tinsley, so I’ll give you a chance. Please look up, until you see my flag.” he said pointing up.

Ryan would be lying if he said he didn’t take sadistic pleasure in seeing horror slowly morph the mayor’s features as recognition dawned on him. His face lost all color, going pasty, the eyes bugged out of their sockets, and his mouth opened in a silent moan of anguish.

“Y-you… you, .. you are Ricky Goldsworth!!”

“In the flesh” he said with a sickly sweet smile “So I’m sure you won’t deny me anything, isn’t that right, Mr. Tinsley?”

“You! You.. wouldn’t do anything to me, you wouldn’t dare!”

“Oh. I wouldn’t, would I? I think it might be good for you to meet my friend Fanny here” Ryan says pointing to a man close to the prisoners, who immediately starts shaking when the attention is turned to him “Do you see his ear? How there is barely even a hole left!? Fanny made the mistake of denying me things early in our acquaintance, but he knows better now”

If it is possible, the mayor gets even paler, as if all blood abandoned his body at the implication, and half words start to sputter from his mouth. It was a stark contrast to Ryan’s smile that only grew at every second.

“Now that you know what I would do to a member of my own crew, it might make you wonder, just what will I do to a filthy, disgusting, pig like you”

At this Ryan stands up once again and paces a bit, his eyes never leaving the prisoners. He could see that most of them were also quite shaken with his declaration, with the noble women looking physically ill. Good, it will make things easier.

“You see Mr Tinsley, I heard word that you and your family have a very special pendant in your possession. A beautiful sea dragon, with a gold head and a belly made of pearls” he looks at the mayor for confirmation, who nods dumbly.

“I will exchange it for your head when we arrive at the next port. My men already sent a message to your family informing them of my terms. If we arrive at the island and there is no one there to make the trade, you may as well say farewell to your life. Are we in accordance?”

“..Y-yes” he nods “just please don’t hurt me”

Ryan accents with an internal sigh of relief, one step closer to his freedom, and motions for Jacob to take the nobles and the mayor to the prison below deck. Once they are out of the way he turns to the rest of the prisoners, looking at the simple men and women gathered there.

“Now, I imagine your families are not rich enough to pay your ransom, so each of you now has a choice. You either work for me for at least a year, and gets paid an equal share of the treasure just like the rest of the crew” Ryan pauses at his speech and looks in their eyes for dramatic effect “Or we cut your head off and feed your bodies to the sharks that have been following us since we raised anchor. What will it be?”

Unsurprisingly no one choose the second option. Ryan asked every one of them individually, until there was only one left: Shane.

He still was pretty much in the same position Ryan had left him, but it appeared that the shock had passed, and instead there was a low hum of anger. He imagines Shane might be a little hurt that he had deceived him like this.

“And you, what will it be?” Ryan repeats the same phrase he said to all the others.

“I choose death. There is no way that I’m breathing the same air as you for another second, you traitor! Kill me and hang me at the mast for the seagulls to pick for all I care”

Ok, so Shane is probably very hurt. But there is no way Ryan is granting his wish. He has grown very fond of him in the short time they spent together, and he would have them at least part in amicable terms.

“As you wish.Teej, take him to my cabin!”

“What!? No..” Shane protested as he was manhandled away.

“I said I would kill you, I didn't say when”

* * *

To say Shane was upset was the understatement of the year. He was livid. If he could he would be breathing fire from his mouth, but beneath it, he was hurt, and most of all he was confused. The man he saw at the deck was such a contrast to the one he came to know this past days that he had trouble connecting the two, not knowing what was true or false. To think that early that morning they had laughed over beer and porridge without a care in the world.

Now he is currently strapped to a chair in a room not bigger than the one he has at his cottage. He could see a bunker bed, a small dresser and a desk with several maps, books and parchments strewn over it. Frankly the rest of the room was in a similar state of disarray with chests, clothes and knickknacks populating every available surface. In any other situation Shane would be interested in the chance to know more about the person that lived in it, but now he just closes his eyes and lets darkness bring him a moment of comfort.

He is interrupted by the click of the door opening slowly, followed by Ryan poking his head in shyly before his body accompany it. Then he just stood there sheepish, not unlike how he did on the tower earlier that day.

“I imagine you might want some answers?” he said after the silent stretched between them.

“No shit Ryan. Or should I say Ricky?” Shane spats with venom.

“No, no, my name is really Ryan, Ricky is just a fake one that I used on a raid. I didn’t lie about that.

“Oh yeah? And what did you lie about?” 

Ryan actually winces a bit from the tone, but Shane was past caring if he hurt the other, even while seeing guilt completely overtaking his features.

“Look, I’m sorry for deceiving you and abusing of your good will like I did” Ryan looks at the ground and curls a little on himself “I never intended to bring you into my ship, but the boys mistook you for the mayor, they are good boys, but they are also pretty dumb”

Shane scoffs a little at Ryan’s rambling, but in reality he can feel the vines around his heart uncoil a little with each word. He never tells him, but some part of Shane is glad to have been spared the panic and subsequent grief that would have come if he had never found his companion.

Taking his scoff as disdain, Ryan scrambles to continue “But I swear I only lied about my memories being gone and not knowing stuff, everything else was real. For little that is worth, I did enjoy your company, and considered you a friend” he gulps “I would understand if you didn’t want to have anything to do with me from now on, but I would have us at least part in amicable terms.”

To Shane, it was as if Ryan had abruptly removed the sting from a wasp bite. Sure the area is still painful, but the source of the venom was gone, and he could breathe a little easier. 

“For what it’s worth I do still consider you a friend” he says after taking a centering breath.

“Really!?” Ryan answers with a hopeful smile, a real one, the kind that Shane had come to treasure the past week, not the ones he sported at the deck.

“Yes. But don’t get ahead of yourself, you still have a lot of apologizing to do before I can trust you fully again.

“Oh” Ryan deflates again and boneless sits cross-legged in front of Shane, since he was currently occupying the only chair of the room “Ok, so what do you want to know?”

“Mostly what happened, what you were doing in my town. What will happen to me now”

“Uhm.” he nods determined, preparing for a long explanation “So the ships we saw early today? Yesterday? Either way, the ships we saw where mine and Captain Lim’s. I teamed up with him since we both had interest in this town, but knew it was a well protected one. Several pirates hung trying to attack it.” 

Ryan looks to Shane for confirmation, who nods. He remembers those attacks, remembers that the governor’s men hung the corpses in front of his lighthouse as a warning. He didn’t sleep well that month.

“We knew we had to do research from the inside to find the weak points, so we both sent part of our crew undercover, and that’s when you found me. I suggested we post an ad on the paper to let them know I arrived safely after we got separated”

“You still owe me for that by the way” Shane quipped.

“And I shall pay!” Ryan said with mirth, clearly pleased at his own antics “When I left you, I went to meet my crew and start the raid. And here we are” he opened his arms as if to encompass the whole of their situation.

Shane once again nods, pensive and surprised with his friend’s plan, closer to what he thought of espionage than piracy “What I don’t understand is this fixation with the mayor, why was he so important? I think I never heard the word “mayor” as much as I did today. Sure his family is rich, but so are many others”

Ryan laughs again at his friend’s small quip, but answers “It is as I said to him, his family has a pendant that I desperately need”

“Yes, but what for? Even if it’s super expensive, it’s still just a jewel.”

“It’s so much more than that, but I can not tell you anything else” at Shane’s hurt look, he relents a bit “Ok, ok. I will say that it will keep me safe from the gray ghost, but no more”

“Ryan you can not possibly be telling me you believe in the supernatural?”

“Of course I do! And you’d be a fool not to” he says hurt, but clearly glad to change the subject, and Shane allows it.

“There is no evidence! Only spooky tales for children!”

Ryan shakes his head in displeasure “Agree to disagree? Want to shake on it?”

“Of course. Just untie me first”

“OH yeah, shit, sorry” Ryan scrambles up and cuts Shane’s bounds with his pocket knife. They stand a bit awkwardly with the just one chair situation, but soon Ryan plops back on the floor and Shane follows him.

“You can leave when we reach the next port, if you want. Maybe think of this as an impromptu vacation, maybe?”

Shane nods sobered up “Yeah I think I will”

“Great! You can sleep here! Teej said everywhere else is full, unfortunately” Ryan gets up, anxious energy rolling out of him in waves, as if now that they sort of made up, the awkward air was too much for him to bear.

“Ok, no, that’s fine”

“Great! Uhm, I have some, uhn, captain business! To go back to. So, make yourself at home, explore the ship! And I will see you later? Yes.” and closes the door behind him.

Shane sits, weirded out at the hasty escape, thinking of just what in their conversation might have spooked him this time. He swears talking to the man is like trying to grab wet soap sometimes, but guesses that even now, when they have come clean, Ryan still has his secrets.

He takes a moment to gather his bearings and in the end he decides to do as the other said and explore the ship. He imagines Ryan explained his situation to the crew, for they are friendly and guide him around. Shane quickly finds the time of the meals, who is in each watch, who is the doctor, and who is cheating on who. They also tell him strange stories about their captain’s exploits, some are fun, of great deeds and of surviving in the face of great peril, but some are darker, crueler, and he wishes they are not true.

Later that night, so late that it is morning, Shane leans against the railing looking at the stars and the ocean below, feeling a soft breeze in his face and humming a song. 

Soon a voice joins him, fitting effortlessly in to the melody. “We will rant and we'll roar like true irate sailors, we'll rant and we'll roar all on the salt seas” he looks sideways to see Ryan watching him, sees his hand inching closer to his own on the wood “Until we strike soundings in the channel of your city, if you enter our ship you never shall leave”

There, seeing Ryan’s face framed by the rising sun, and the salt wind caressing his hair, Shane imagines the worst of his journey has passed.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The song that Ryan sings to Shane in this chapter is "Spanish Ladies" but with a few tweaks of my own. You can hear my favorite version here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3W7TViGkvQ0
> 
> Anndd to the history notes:  
> 1) I use a few names and nicknames kinda interchangeably. Rye and Zach are for Zachariah; Ike is for Isaac, Jack is for Jacob and Fanny is for Nathaniel. This is from a common 18th century names list that I found.
> 
> 2) What Ryan claims he did to Fanny was sort of common, and the pirate that inspired Ryan's flag, Ned Low, was known for cutting off noses and ears.
> 
> 3) Uhm, I wonder why Ryan is so desperate for that pendant? Either way the one that inspired it belonged to the Medici family, but I cannot for the life of me find the picture again, but this one is very similar: https://www.flickr.com/photos/kotomi-jewelry/5619542030/in/photostream/
> 
> 4) Porridge and beer was a common breakfast for people in the US at the time.
> 
> 5) I wonder what Shane would consider "evidence" in the 17th/18th century? Like photography wasn't even invented yet, get a hold of yourself.
> 
> I'm using Ricky here more as a character Ryan plays than an actual person, our boy is still a sweet mess!
> 
> As I said before, comments make my day! If you don't know what to say, please tell me what would you name your ship if you had one!!


	3. Superstition

Shane gets used to the pirate life in no time. On his first, second? day he mopes around, uncertain where he is supposed to stand until someone takes pity on his sorry sight and hands him a mop and a bucket, telling him to scrub the floor. Finally, with a sense of purpose and the sweet comfort of routine, he can breathe a little easier again. After a few days, Shane finds himself helping Andrew cook for everybody, and someone finds out he worked in a lighthouse, and thank god, they can finally get Augie out of the night watch because he always sleeps on the job. They get him in the crow’s nest, and that is where he spends most of his time since.

He and Ryan eventually find their pace again, it’s just- easy talking to him. Shane sleeps in the top bunker because he keeps hitting his head in the bottom. He steals Ryan’s clothes and a bandana that he ties around his head. Ryan teaches him to understand maps and Shane learns that his friend can read after all, the lie just to throw him off. They laugh over Shakespeare, and find that they both consider him his favorite writer.

During theater night Shane accuses Ryan of piracy and condemns him to hang, his performance being applauded by the crew. In another, they duel, and Ryan kills him for falling in love with his sister. Soon, three weeks had passed and Shane was again doing his watch at the nest when Ryan joins him.

“Hey there big guy” he smiles gesturing for Shane to scoot over.

“Hey there little guy” he smiles back, closing his spy glass “What's up?”

“There's a storm coming, keep an eye out for me?”

Shane looks to the clear evening sky, and then back to Ryan, raising a skeptical eyebrow “Where?”

“Cager’s knee is aching”

He scoffs “With his age I’d be surprised if it wasn’t”

At this Ryan slaps his shoulder playfully “Leave the old man alone. As it is, he hasn’t been wrong once!”

“May the Lord spare me of pirate superstitions” Shane rolls his eyes, raising his hands to the sky mockingly.

“Hey! It’s not that bad” Ryan laughs.

“I can’t even whistle!”

“You will call up a storm!”

“But you let Andrew whistle” Shane says accusingly

“He is the cook! He is allowed to whistle, what can I do!?” 

“One day!” He exclaims between chuckles “One day I’m gonna stop in the middle of the deck and I’ll let out the biggest whistle that I can”

“You better watch it long legs” Ryan says suddenly menacing “Or I’ll cut your nose off and feed it to you myself”

They stay quiet for a beat before cracking up. At first, it made Shane uneasy, but soon he realized that throwing threats was just a joke to Ryan. Since then, he finds it funny to see the crew thinking what comes out of his friends mouth is true. 

They sit in companionable silence, watching Venus rise from the pink horizon and a few clouds gather over the sea. With his mind absent, Shane decides to ask something that had been bothering him for a while.

“Soon you will have the pendant” he said it as a statement, but left it open to see if Ryan would offer information on his own.

“Yes?” he answered suspicious as if prepared to leave at any moment. No information offered from his part then.

“Can you tell me more about it?”

“Why do you want to know, is just an old ass pendant!”

“Because every time I ask you leave the room! Look! I barely said anything and you already have a leg out of the nest, ready to climb off!”

Ryan brings the offending appendage back inside embarrassed, and sighs “I already said I can’t tell you”

“But can you tell me why you can’t say anything?” Shane knew he was using his kicked puppy face. While not as effective as Ryan’s, it still got him places, and honestly he was starting to get a little hurt with all the secrets.

Ryan huffs and sits back down, propping his elbows on his knees and holding his head “I can’t... They know, when someone knows” he looks at Shane earnestly with wide fearful eyes “Everyone who really knew died, I-I can’t let that happen to you, ok?”

Well, now Shane feels like an asshole. Whatever Ryan is experiencing, pirate superstition or an actual threat, is clearly a difficult topic.

“I’m- I’m sorry for pressuring you. I didn’t know” he apologizes lamely.

“Hey, it’s ok. You didn’t know, and that’s how I want it” Ryan gives him a comforting pat on the shoulder “Keep an eye on the clouds for me big guy!”

With that he definitely climbs of the crow’s nest, and Shane can hear him giving orders on the deck. He settles to get comfy and pull out the spy glass once more.

His eyes might be on the clouds, but his head is certainly on Ryan.

* * *

Ryan once again feels bad for hiding things from Shane, and it’s not a pattern he would like to keep, but this time, there are forces at play that are beyond him. The problem is that, that…  _ thing  _ does not operate in earthly terms. The more you think about it, the more real it becomes; the more it is acknowledged, the more power it has. The more you know, the more you are doomed.

For the longest time Ryan would not even think of it, would pretend to live his life without care, but time has forced his hand, soon the sixth year would hit its mark, and if he doesn’t have the pendant until then there will be nothing left for him.

Some crew know. Teej and Devon mostly, but he can not tell Shane, not now when they are arriving port in a couple of days, and he will leave. He will go back to his quiet life. To his lighthouse, to his harmonica, to his books and stew, and all the good things that Ryan messed up. He can’t have that plague follow Shane home. He is already cursed, but he will not drag his friend under with him.

Maybe if Ryan survives his plan and regains his freedom, he will visit Shane at the lighthouse, see the flames of the big lamp reflect off his face again. Who is he kidding, if Ryan survives, that is the first place he is going.

“Cap!! Shane’s calling for ya!” Ryan is violently shaken from his revere by Gen kicking the door open violently. 

“He said is urgent, guy seemed pretty shaken up” she motioned for him to hurry up.

In no time Ryan was on the deck to see what the problem is. Heavy rain clouds stretch as far as the eye can see, the air smelling electric and the wind picking up at every second, leaving a ringing on his ears. He looked up to see Shane climbing down the nest and hurried up to catch up with him.

“Shane! I told you to call me when the storm was forming, not when a deluge is ready to fall on our heads!”

“I did! It appeared just now!” he yelled over the wind “But that’s not just it!”

He drags Ryan over to the edge of the ship and hands him his spy glass, pointing to an area where the clouds are thickest. Through the glass Ryan sees a small blackened island with lightning punishing its shores.

“An island? But there was none on the map?” he looks up at Shane who shakes his head.

“Wasn’t there before, it came with the storm” his eyes were wide, with the look of a man who just had all his beliefs swept from under him.

It is then that Ryan realizes that the ringing in his ears isn’t simply the wind, it has a melody to it almost. He blanches in worry looking around and, sure enough, the crew is already looking dizzy. Ryan notices shapes moving underwater, and he knows that when the rain starts to fall his crew will be lost. They are in siren waters.

Leaving a confused Shane behind, he climbs the rigging of the main mast and screams to be heard over the wind

“Everybody!! We’re in siren waters!!” that snapped the crew from their stupor, but soon screaming would no longer work “Everyone who has wax, put it on your ears! The ones that don’t, go below deck! NOW!!”

There is no way for them to go around the storm, the clouds stretch as far as the eye can see, and knowing these creatures, it would only follow them. No, they have to barrel through and pass the island, then they will be safe, but the storm will trow them around and the land will draw them in, pulling the ship closer like a long-lost lover.

A drop falls on the back of Ryan’s neck, another on his brow. It has begun.

“I’m here with you, for whatever this is. Just, order me around” Shane stands there awkwardly with a sword, a bit misplaced with all the bustle of the surrounding crew, but his eyes are set and determined, and Ryan watches tenderly the path of a drop that fell on his nose. Noticing the ear plugs, he simply smiles, nods, and rushes below deck to guide the people there.

Upon arriving he notices that most of them found a lengthy rope and tied each other for safety. Good.

“Everyone! Start singing and chanting! Drown out the noise! I want to feel the deck shake boys! Don’t stop until I come for you!”

With a chorus of “Aye, aye cap!” following him, Ryan bounds back upstairs to find that the storm worsened considerably, the deck is already slippery and lightning almost struck the mast a few times. The waves swing the ship on every direction, and his eyes find Shane attempting to hold the wheel, just barely stopping it from turning on its axis.

He hurries up to the quarter deck and grabs hold of it, helping it find the correct position. Their hands grab each other on the process and instead of parting they squeeze comfortingly. Ryan can see Shane’s eyes growing alarmed as he notices something and yells above the wind.

“Ryan! You don’t have ear plugs!” 

“-Don’t need them-” he mouths, shaking his head vehemently. 

Shane looks like he will start to argue when a dark mass pass over his head and lands on the deck. Ryan feels Shane’s hand slacken turning cold, and a stricken look take over his face. He imagines he isn’t faring much better, if the melody that pierces his ears wasn’t enough to send him into shock, the image that graces him sure would.

He thinks it must be worse for Shane though, since he probably didn’t believe in them until now, but the truth is that no tale can prepare you for the true sight of a siren. The stories stem from word of mouth, from enchanted sailors seeing what their doped brains want them to see.

The creature in front of them has the head and the torso of a human, and that’s about it. From its shoulders sprout big leathery wings with talons on each point, the lower body turns to a long fishtail. Its skin is ashen, sickly and moist, like the belly of rotten fish, and its hair is scarce running inky and oily from the scalp.

Ryan sees a few people trying to get it off the deck, but soon it is a pointless effort, for many more sirens climb the side of the ship, or fly overhead and land on the masts. Once the creatures notice that their song has no effect, they try to bodily drag the crew to the sea, talons ripping fabric and teeth tearing flesh.

Before Ryan can move to help in the fight, a heavy tail collides with them, and they are thrown down and to the side. He finds himself in the middle of the deck, every bone in his body aching, trying to find purchase in the wood that is slippery with blood. It is then that he sees that one of the creatures got a hold of Shane, talons nestled deep in his shoulder and is quickly dragging him to the border of the ship. No. Oh no, he doesn’t have time to reach him, he is too far. Ryan goes for his pistol, and aims for the creature sending a prayer above, he only has one chance.

The bullet finds its home in the wing of the creature, a little too close to Shane for comfort, but it gives his friend just enough time and reach to slice the wing of the siren off, setting himself free.

Ryan unfortunately does not have time to commemorate, for in his worry about Shane, he failed to see the siren crawling towards him and the creature is almost on top of him now. He scrambles backwards quickly, but this is no deterrent to the siren that grabs hold of his ankle.

“Our master knows of what ye search Ryan Bergara. And he sends me to tell ye that those are futile devices” its voice is shrill like glass ground together, and its putrid breath fills Ryan’s nostrils “He will have what is his when time is due”

The siren crawls on top of him, face centimeters from his, and Ryan is unable to move.

“Will he plead and plead with you, will he coax you with smooth words?” it’s voice echoes, taunting, and it’s the only thing Ryan can hear “Will he strike a bargain with you, to become your slave for life? Will you make a pet of him, like a bird??’

He stares at the creature's milky eyes, and it’s all he can see. There is no life beyond this, he has nothing to hope for, he belongs to someone else. The siren continues droning on.

“He looks the haughtiest in the eye, of all the-”

And is suddenly cut off. Slowly a line of black surges from its neck, black blood spilling, until the head rolls to the side, detached from its body. Beyond it Ryan can see Shane, panting heavily, sword coated in black.

His body slackens, and he lies on the deck with eyes closed. Distantly he fells Shane beside him, shaking him, he hears his voice calling his name, telling that they are ok, but nothing registers. His mind is in a spiral of panic and worrisome thoughts.

“Of all the sons of pride he is the king” Ryan whispers like a prayer, but if it is so, no god answers.

* * *

Shane eventually gets Ryan up and guides him back to their cabin. He is still shocked but recognition start to get back to his eyes. Shane couldn’t hear what the siren told his friend, only see its lips moving, but he wonders what could have been. Ryan is by no means a coward and is usually the first to jump into battle, fiercely facing everything head on. So it’s weird for Shane to see him so shaken.

He sits Ryan on the chair while he kneels, and they breathe together, both to stop Ryan’s panic attack, and to ground Shane's unsettled mind. He always said to himself that when he saw proof of the supernatural he would believe it, but he never thought of how he would react when said proof finally confronted him. When they are calm again Ryan tries to give him a strained smile, that Shane returns with a tender one, hand cupping his friends cheek and thumb tracing the delicate skin under the eye. They get out of their drenched clothes and into dry ones. Shane cleans and bandages his shoulder. He tucks Ryan on the bottom bunk, and gets on the top one.

Thankfully, they didn’t loose anybody today, though most of the people who were at the deck sport some kind of injury. The attack was fairly quick, and when Shane decapitated that siren they were already past the island and into the arms of safety. 

He lays there looking at the darkness and hearing the tiny cracks of the wood settling, the gentle lapping of the waves against the hull, the echoes of the crew getting drunk downstairs, and allows it to lull him to sleep.

“S-Shane, did you hear that?” Ryan’s tiny voice wakes him up from his doze

“Uhm- is just the wood crackin” 

“I don’t think I’ll be able to sleep tonight” Shane hears a huff and rolling around in the sheets

“Want me to sleep with you?”

“... Y-you’ll hit your head”

“Nah is ok buddy” he hears the start of a protest, but Shane is already getting down and weaseling his way inside Ryan’s covers. He curls over Ryan tangling their legs and hiding his face on his neck.

“Better?” he mumbles. Ryan nods and squeezes the arm dropped over his middle.

Shane is already in that groggy stage of almost sleep where most things don’t make sense when he asks “Ry? Whatdid ya mean with pride sons of the king?”

Ryan tenses for a second, before chuckling with the absurdity “Is king of all the sons of pride. It’s in the bible big guy”

“Uhm, don’t know, don’t believe it” Shane snuggles and leaves a small kiss on his shoulder.

“It doesn’t surprise me” Ryan says fondly, and when he finally sleeps, is with a small smile on his face.

* * *

Today they finally arrived at the port and Shane is glad to really stretch his legs beyond a few steps on each direction. And oh! He will finally be able to eat some kind of fruit, maybe even a banana if he is does it off the ship, damn pirates and their dammed superstitions. But Shane also has a personal mission today: he must find a bible. He remembers vaguely the conversation he had with Ryan that night, and he recalls his friend saying that the quote he said was from there. Shane bets it has something to do with the pendant, since it put Ryan so on edge. So he must investigate.

It’s all very nice, he thinks, as he eyes a music stand searching for a harmonica, but he misses Ryan by his side, running around and making him laugh. His friend had been weird the whole morning, probably worried about the pendant, if the mayor’s family would have it, yada yada, and Shane decided that maybe some time alone would be good for him.

He missed strolling through markets, but he admits that the novelty is probably because Teej and Devon are out there handling everything important, like food, animals and general provisions, so Shane and the rest of the crew can go around and cause trouble by themselves.

Bible and harmonica purchased and safely in his purse, he considers going to a pub just to people watch, but in the end decides against it. Maybe Ryan is already back at the ship, maybe he can convince him to go drinking with him.

He boards the ship saying hello to Augie, who is keeping watch and looks very surprised to see him, and Shane notices that there is no one else on the deck besides him. He looks for Ryan at their cabin where he usually sits folded over maps, but there is also no one there, so he deduces he and the crew who went after the pendant must not be back yet.

Shane sits on the railing and gets comfortable, taking the bible out to leaf through its pages, hoping that magically the quote he needs will jump out and hit him in the face. Unfortunately, no such luck, and upon noticing his mind wondering to the waves and the beautiful weather today, he closes it and fishes his harmonica instead.

He plays a few notes, struggling a bit to get them clean, but soon muscle memory kicks in, and he plays a simple shanty just to practice. He is interrupted by heavy running footfalls and a small uttered “...- Shane?”

Shane looks behind himself to see a disheveled Ryan with puffy red rimmed eyes, holding an almost empty bottle of rum and wearing a shocked expression. Alarm quickly invades him “Ryan!? Are you ok? What happened?”

“You are here” he cleans the tear tracks discretely.

“-Yes??” Shane answers confused, was he not supposed to?

“The port” Ryan points to the offending piece of land “Until the next port”

Until the next port? What about the next port?- oh, OH! Ryan thought he would leave in the next port, which, well, is this port. The truth is that the thought of leaving hasn’t crossed Shane’s mind for a while, even though he can’t pinpoint the exact moment where the shift happened. Looking back on his previous life, maybe yes, it was comfortable, he always had food, his books and the steady guiding light of the tower, but it was lonely. Who was the last person that held a conversation with him before Ryan? Just wasted words that the waves took and never gave back.

“Ryan.. I-I don’t want to leave.- If you’ll have me around?” he says awkwardly, but soon a compact form is colliding with him. Ryan is hugging Shane as if he would disappear at any second. As if he would drift away with the wind and be carried far, far away.

“You piece of shit, Shane!” he hits him in the shoulder as well as their positions allow “I hate you so much” but Shane can hear him giggling in relief, and just hugs tighter.

“I’m sorry”

“Shut up, Shane”

After a while they disentangle, and he can appreciate Ryan’s snotty but happy face. Shane sits back on his spot and Ryan leans on the railing, giggly, bottle of rum almost slipping from his numb fingers. When he shifts Shane notices something shiny peaking from the opening of his shirt.

“So this is the pendant?” It truly is beautiful, the different colored stones reflect the sun, showing other tones beneath, its belly is made o bubbling pearl, carrying with it both the sea and the fire inside the beast. His fingers go for it, barely brushing the jewel and the skin below Ryan’s pectorals at the same time. 

Ryan’s breath hitches, and he moistens his lips before talking “So… you decided to pick up the bible, then?”

Shane gracefully takes the diversion of topic for what it is “Will use my detective brain, and find all your secrets, Ryan Bergara”

Ryan just giggles and throw his arms over the railing, bottle now almost falling in the sea. He looks soft and Shane almost wishes it was sundown just so he could see the pink light play on his face. 

“My heart is pierced by Cupid, I disdain all glittering gold” Shane sings, stretching his arm to play with Ryan’s fingers “There is nothing can console me, but my jolly sailor bold”.

Ryan pokes his long fingers back.

"Are you sure you are not a siren here to trick me?"

"Why?” he laughs “Does my voice make you want to throw yourself overboard?"

"What? No" Ryan snickers "You know what I meant"

Shane doesn’t know what is means at all, but just the thought of what it may, makes the butterflies in his stomach take flight.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The song that Shane sings is "My Jolly Sailor Bold", and you can hear it here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JfxwW9Vkc0I
> 
> Oh boy, things did escalate in this chapter I feel, but as always, to the history/mythology(?) notes!  
> 1) One pirate superstition is that if you whistle on board you will call up a storm. There are a few exceptions to this rule though, such as: if you are just leaving port (so that the wind can fill your sails), and if you are the cook (because then you wouldn't be stealing anything(?) I dunno). Bananas are also bad luck.
> 
> 2) Let's say that my sirens are a little bit, uh- different. I based them a lot in the Odyssey, in the Argonautica, and in greek mythology in general. To have a glimpse of what I was thinking, just google "medieval sirens". If you want to hear more, just hit me up in the comments, and I will be delighted to talk about it.
> 
> Now if you, just like Shane, uses your detective brain, you might start to figure out who/what is the antagonist of this fic. Thank god we have google nowdays.
> 
> Thank you for everyone who kudoed, and commented! You keep me wanting to finish this story, and your insights are very, well, insightful, and really help me write better!!
> 
> For this chapter's question: are you a boogara or a shaniac? I feel that I am clearly a boogara hahah!


	4. Leviathan

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> I saw that the first episode of this season is about a lighthouse, and I feel so seen. But I haven't watched it yet, so no spoilers!
> 
> Also, quick disclaimer that in this chapter we start to deal with some biblical themes. I did my research and tried to be respectful, but I'm warning you if it's not your cup of tea.

More than six hundred pages passed before Shane finally found what he was looking for. In days, that distance would be a little over a week. Of course, if he really wanted it could probably have been less than that, but he had duties to attend to, and most of the time, between the bible and Ryan, he would always choose to spend time with his friend.

There it was, the last phrase from chapter 41 of Job: of all the sons of pride he is king.  _ Leviathan _ . A fire breathing sea dragon, a terrible beast, so powerful no human could rival it. Only God himself may kill it when the apocalypse comes. One of the great demons, one of the princes of hell.

Sure it matches Ryan’s pendant, but, at least for now, Shane can’t glimpse much further than that. Surely Ryan doesn’t think he is being haunted by some kind of primordial sea demon? 

Well, now that he knows something at least, Shane is just itching to go and confront him about it, but something holds him back. That something is most likely his own heavy conscience, though. Even though he received no complaints from Ryan in regard to his research, Shane knows it is an uncomfortable topic for his friend, and he does not want to cause him any pain by breaching it.

So he closes his book and guards the information to himself, for when it becomes needed. And needed it surely will be soon, if the growing number of times he catches Ryan staring into the distance and rubbing the necklace are any indication. 

* * *

Ryan is at the wheel, steering her gently. Yesterday they had a conference and the crew decided the next stop would be a raid to the island of San Rocco. Nothing fancy like Shane’s town though, just a quick in and out, burn some buildings, steal some vaults, and get out of there before the marine comes.

His eyes are on the compass and on the wheel, but every so often they stray to the sea, looking for darker shapes beneath, for bubbling water and sea foam. As the days pass Ryan becomes more and more anxious. His time is almost up, but besides the siren, he hadn’t seen sign of the gray ghost. If he could, Ryan would confront it, but it is impossible to find, and he is left waiting for it to come to him.

He knows he should tell Shane. He no longer has an excuse to keep him in the dark. If Ryan’s plan goes wrong, Shane must be warned of the possibilities. But it’s hard, every time he steels himself to tell, he sees Shane laughing, or singing, or being his awkward, goofy self, and he gives up. Just the thought of seeing his expression turn to worry pains Ryan deeply.

But no, he can’t keep going on like this! It wouldn’t be fair to him. Shane never hid anything, and all that Ryan did was be secretive and keep things from him. No, it will end today. After Shane’s watch later that night they will sit, and Ryan will tell him everything.

“Ry!! Ship at starboard!” Shane yells from the crow’s nest.

Startled, he looks in the direction, and sure enough there is a small spot in the distance. Of course, Ryan could perfectly well take his spy glass then and there, but any excuse to talk to Shane is a welcomed one, so climbs up to him.

“Can you see any colors?”

“Crown’s I think” Shane shakes his head “Probably a cargo ship, definitely not military” he says with a smile that Ryan returns.

“Luck is on our side then!” it’s been a while since they last raided a ship “Fly the crown’s colors!!!” he screams to the people on the deck.

They already have a routine, and Ryan’s crew has a particular flair for the dramatic. Most of his attacks are simply intimidation tactics, and he gets what he wants without hurting anyone.

Ryan climbs down from the nest onto the deck, keeping his eyes always on the approaching ship until they are close enough that the merchants will have a hard time getting away. Ryan checks around him for his crew, and once he sees that they are ready and armed, he lets out the order “Switch to the roger!!!”

Soon enough, they see the cargo ship raising their white flag. Good. He hasn’t lost his reputation yet. Time to go and keep it that way.

Stepping on the enemies deck, Ryan notices they really didn’t stand a chance against him. The crew is made of mostly middle-aged men with rounded beer bellies, they don’t even have cannons for god’s sake, but they look wealthy and are well-dressed, a good sign for Ryan.

“Well gentleman, may I speak to the captain?” he says with a cold smile.

From behind a group of people, a short stocky man steps out. He looks more like a grocer than a captain, but well, that’s probably his real occupation.

“Oh, hello Mr.-?”

“H-hill”

“A pleasure to meet you, Mr. Hill. I, am Ricky Goldsworth. I believe you have heard of me before?” Ryan sees the man blanch and nod, but notices his eyes constantly straying to the left. He follows it and finds a crewman so discreetly steering the helm. Oh, so they are trying to get away. 

Without warning Ryan whips one of the pistols from his belt and shoots the guy on the shoulder, who promptly falls back from the impact. He looks back to see panic start to seize the captain’s features, and locks his saccharine smile in place.

“Tsk. You disappoint me Mr. Hill, I expected more discernment from a gentleman like you”

“I-if I had the choice I would not give you a single p-penny you rat! I worked h-hard to be at my position today, to be the best in what I do! Something you f-filthy...-worms! Will never understand!” the captain exclaims with a sudden bout of courage, even though his hands still tremble and his voice shakes with every word. Oh, Ryan can not have that.

“Well the thing is, you do not have a choice, do you?” he starts to circle the man, as a vulture stalking its prey “Now here is what is going to happen if you don’t give me what I want: I will kill every person on this ship. I might be merciful and make it quick, since they are not at fault for your stupidity, but for you Mr.Hill, I will reserve keelhauling.”

He looks the man in the eye and sees courage abandon his face once again. Ryan nods to himself pleased and turns his back on him, as if to leave “Please haul everything of value to my ship. At your own pace, I have all the time in the world.”

“Oh but that isn’t exactly true, is it? Ryan Bergara”

He turns so quickly his neck almost snaps. A new expression took over the face of the captain, one that unfortunately Ryan knows well. His eyes had rolled back, exposing the milky whites, and every muscle of his body shook, but his face was calm and a taunting sardonic smile mirrored Ryan’s previous one. 

“Your time is up. I was merciful and gave you time to get me what I want, but all you did was turn into a nuisance” at this he frowns “I see you finally have it”

Ryan flinches and grabs the pendant protectively, eyes going wide.

“Oh. You think it will somehow save you” mirth suddenly fills his face, and immediately falls, like he doesn’t really know how to control it “It won’t. There is nothing you can do. Give it to me

“No.” Ryan snarls, suddenly fed up “If you want it you will have come for it yourself Rahab” 

He pulls his sword and pierces it through the man’s gut, who eerily goes back to smiling “I will punish with my sword the twisting serpent. I will kill the sea dragon” Ryan spats.

The captain chuckles as blood pours from his mouth “I’m glad to see you are prideful as ever” and in a last spasm, his eyes turn back to normal, and the body falls dead to the ground.

* * *

Shane and Teej organize the plundering while Ryan hides away in his cabin letting anxiety consume him. If the ghost, no, fuck it. If  _ Rahab  _ would just come and confront him in person, claim the pendant, rip his heart out, anything! But no! Instead, he plays petty games of threat and takes no actual action. The waiting without knowing the when is pure torture for Ryan.

He doesn’t know for how long he sat at his desk with his head in his hands, staring at the candlelight unseeingly, when Shane comes for him.

“Come on Ry Guy, we are having a party below deck”

“No. Leave me to my misery” he whines shaking his head.

“Come onnn. You will feel better” Shane chuckles with a hand on his shoulder, but Ryan can see concern start to hide behind his eyes, and that is enough to get him to agree.

“Ok” he says and holds Shane’s hand as he is dragged downstairs.

Soon enough he is seated at a table, with a bottle of rum at his elbow, listening to the worst rendition of Star of The County Down he ever heard, and looking at the light dancing on Shane’s features, keeping them soft and golden.

Ryan lays his head on the crook of his elbow, hugging his bottle closer, and sings along the crew “He looked so sweet from his two bare feet, to the sheen of his nut brown hair.” as he sees a blush creep Shane’s face, Ryan smiles and continues “Such a coaxing elf, sure I shook myself, for to see I was really there”

Shane clears his throat and takes a drink from his own bottle “Feeling better?”.

Ryan hums as he feels Shane’s fingers combing through his hair “Yeah...I think so” he opens an eye that had fallen shut during his friends ministrations “Aren’t you curious about what happened on that deck?”

“Of course I am” his hand goes back to holding the bottle. Pity. “But I’m not gonna be an asshole and pester you about something you don’t want to talk about”

“Thank you” Ryan takes a fortifying breath and raises from his position “But I…-I think it’s time for me to tell you”

“Really??” Shane’s eyebrows rise in surprise, and he starts to look more awake than a second ago.

Ryan nods, meeting his eyes “Yeah.. but, lets go somewhere quiet?”

* * *

They ended up in the crows nest, but Shane is not complaining, he started thinking of it as his spot, and he feels comfortable here. Ryan brought the rum with him, liquid courage, Shane supposes. They sit quietly looking at the stars, and he waits patiently for Ryan to start.

“Six years ago I worked at a port helping load and unload cargo ships” he takes a swig of the bottle, retelling curt and to the point “One night, my friends told me they saw a ship suddenly appear at a vacant spot. She was very old, decrepit, and had a twisting skeleton as a figurehead” he shakes his head “She was just creepy. Looking at it, you couldn’t fathom how she was even still floating, so, of course, my friends told me a bunch of ghost stories, daring me to go on board and spend the night, and I, being the fool I was, agreed”

Shane’s eyebrows go up at this. In all the time he had known Ryan, he always thought of him as a scaredy-cat, jumping at every noise, and leaving the room when the crew is telling ghost stories. He must have shown his surprise, because with one look at his face, Ryan giggles and explains.

“I didn’t believe it at the time. I was as much a skeptic as you” another swig of the bottle “So, of course I got there and started cursing the ghosts” 

“You cursed the ghosts!?”

He chuckles “Yeah, I believe I called them a motherfucker”

“Ryan!”

“What!? Tell me you wouldn't do that”

“I certainly would” Shane answers resigned “But keep going, tell me more”

Ryan sobers up “That would be my downfall though. Turns out that the ship was the Queen Mary, and soon I met her captain, Edgar Rahab”

The name is familiar to Shane, and he remembers it faintly as a tale mothers would tell to their children to get them to behave. Don’t gloat, be humble or else the ghost of Rahab and the Queen Mary will come and drag you to the sea.

“I thought it was just a story” 

Ryan shakes his head “I wish. He told me that for entering his ship I had to become part of the crew, that a hundred years of service would teach me humility. But something changed his mind”

“He told me of a pendant, a beautiful dragon with a pearly belly. He needed it, but couldn’t search for it himself. He gave me six years to find it, and then when I deliver it I may have my life back”

“I bolted from there as soon as I could, but soon found that I was not as free as I thought. I noticed I could not go too far on land and was bound to the sea. I started seeing ghosts and supernatural creatures, but they can’t affect me. It’s like I am in a middle way between living and dead. Cursed.” he looks at his hands as if expecting them to disappear at any moment. Shane grabs them holding fast and Ryan squeezes back gratefully.

“I saw his face in every mirror, people would come to me and talk in his voice”   
Understanding slowly dawns on Shane “Like the captain from today” He is starting to comprehend why sometimes Ryan seems so paranoid, and well, haunted. He probably couldn’t know who to trust, your friend’s face may turn into your enemy at any moment.

“Yes He possesses people like a ghost or demon, and when he is done all that is left behind is empty shells. The more I thought about him, the more he seemed to appear, and when I told other people, he would start to haunt them as well, so I..- stopped. I enlisted in the navy to try and leave it behind, but to no avail. That life wasn’t for me, so, pirate” he motions to encompass himself.

Shane interlaces their fingers and starts rubbing his thumb in circles. He tries to catch Ryan’s eyes, but he looks away, seeming deeply uncomfortable.

“Hey, I don’t blame you for not telling me. I’m not upset”

“Really?”

Shane nods “It must be a lot to carry” he moistens his lips and squeezes a little harder “I’m not good with feelings, but I need you to know that I’m here for you. Whatever happens”

“Thank you” Ryan tucks himself into Shane’s side seeking comfort, and then lets gravity guide him into laying his head onto his lap, looking at the starts above.

His fingers find Ryan’s hair, and he starts to mess it up “Do you want to tell me more about the pendant?”

“I think so” he breathes “Once I realized I couldn’t run from my problems, I started researching and found that he needs it to somehow come into his full power. If he has it Rahab will control the seas” His eyes go wide and his hand goes to the tiny dragon. Shane observes as deft fingers play with the little horns and rub the pearly belly. Shane’s own fingers are on something just as precious, rubbing at Ryan’s scalp.

They stay in silence for a while, breathing in each other’s presence, and Shane starts to take it all in, connecting the treads that make up his friend, until there is one left.

“I found that quote” this perks Ryan’s interest, and he opens his eyes sluggishly.

“Yeah?”

Shane nods “Uhum. It talks about the Leviathan, but I don’t understand how it’s linked to this whole thing, well, except for the shape of the pendant”

Confusion overtakes Ryan’s features, until it’s like a candle suddenly lit up. Then he starts to giggle at his own private joke “Oh! I totally forgot to mention” he continues to giggle, but this time it has an underling of madness beneath “Rahab controls the Leviathan. It is his pet.”

“Pet” Shane says flatly.

“Yes” he continues to smile but the laughter is dying down “Somehow he managed to convince it he was God, so it follows him. If he has the pendant their bond will be complete, and they will become one”

“Become him” he is just repeating everything Ryan says at this point, but Shane is incredulous. 

Thankfully his friend is patient with him and knows it is a lot to take in “Take it easy big guy, when I found this out I didn’t sleep for a week”

Shane blinks “So, you are telling me that not only is Leviathan real, but it is controlled by a human”

Ryan shakes his head “I don’t know what Rahab is, but he is definitely not human”

“Still”

“Yes”

“Fuck” Shane feels like he’s got whiplash “And you will try to stop him?”

Ryan smiles that devilish smile “I also found out other things. I have a plan”

* * *

Shane is having a hard time. 

He’s trying to take it all in a stride, but it seems the absurdity is starting to pile up and threaten to overwhelm him. The sirens were a shock, but it’s ok, he accepted them. Then came the possessed man, and curses, and ghost ships, and now there are biblical monsters controlled by an unknown being going after them, and Shane wonders when he will have to draw the line. The answer though, is probably never. As long as Ryan is involved in the supernatural Shane will probably be as well, and that’s how he wants it.

He is sat near the wheel where Ryan is steering it, with his legs dangling from the quarterdeck and reading the bible again. He was endless teased because of it, but is not like Shane had anything better to read, and besides, it is research. Sort of. Shane had every passage naming Leviathan dog-eared, and is currently pestering Ryan about what else is real or not.

“Behemoth?”

“Never saw it, but also, never went to a swamp”

“Nephilim?”

“I don’t think so?”

“Qippoz?”

“I have no idea what that even is”

“Lilith?”

When Ryan fails to answer, Shane finally looks up and finds not only his friend, but also the rest of the crew below transfixed by something on the left side of the ship. He quickly scrambles up and the vision that assaults him is... unsettling to say the least.

He walks closer to the railing that Ryan is leaning against, a crease between his eyebrows. From there they look at what appears to be a shipwreck, but only the quarterdeck is still afloat, the rest of the ship completely submerged. The weirdest sight though, is the three people that are still balancing on it.

They are so thin that looks like there is no meat left on the bones, cheeks sunk and eyes hollow, mouth babbling meaningless words. Each holds a cannonball with the utmost care, as if it is the most precious thing in the world. At this point Ryan’s crew start to steer the ship to try and rescue them, but none of their shouts get any attention.

That is until one of them spot Ryan. Then their mouth contort in a mockery of a smile, open-mouthed and toothless, bleeding gums on full display, and all begin to chant.

“He’s here | He’s here | He’s here | He’s here”

Ryan flinches back as if he had been slapped, and starts to make abortive motions to the crew, who are still inching the ship closer. All for nothing. Once the creatures see that their message had been delivered, they hug the cannonballs and one by one jump to the sea.

Shane is struck by confusion, feeling this has a deeper meaning behind it, but he has no time to process it. Everything starts happening way too fast.

Fog start raising around them, but instead of cool and balmy, it is warm and sticky. This is not fog at all, Shane realizes, it’s steam. He leans over the railing and sure enough, the sea is boiling around them, bubbling and foaming up. He looks over to Ryan for guidance, and sees that his friend is for a moment just as confused as him, until understanding passes his features, that quickly morph into worry and panic.

Ryan grabs the hand that is still holding the bible, seemingly to ground himself, but then throws Shane a meaningful look. Oh. “His nostrils belch smoke like a cauldron boiling on the fire”. Leviathan is here.

They can suddenly feel the ship swerving starboard, following the course of the now rowdy waters. A thunder strikes over their heads and the once clear day is quickly turning into a full-blown storm. Day has turned to night, no light passing through the heavy clouds. 

Shane sees long and sinewy shapes coming just above water, coiling on themselves, creating a whirl that they are getting sucked into. In the distance they see another ship quickly approaching, and rain starts punishing their faces with sharp droplets.

“Rahab” Ryan is white knuckling the railing, but soon his face gets serious and determined.

“Teej!! I need you at the helm!!” he shouts snapping the rest of the crew from their stupor “Full canvas, and into the storm!!”

Ryan quickly gets on deck, continuing to shout orders “Get the cannons ready!!!”

“Today we sink the Queen Mary”

* * *

Shit, shit, shit. Ryan doesn’t have much time, soon Rahab’s crew will invade his ship, and the real fight will begin. While he is confident his cannons can sink the Mary, the same cannot be said about Leviathan.

Ryan rushes to the kitchens, going against the rest of the crew moving towards the deck. When he reaches it, he starts knocking bottles around, oil, no, rum, no, more rum, dammit! Until there at the back he sees it: vinegar, finally. There is only a bit left but it will do.

He sets it on a nearby table, removes the pendant from his neck, and starts working the pearl out from it with a pocket knife. Ryan struggles quite a bit until it plops out with a satisfying pop.

He shoves it inside the bottle, and closes well, securing it at his belt. Now he only needs to wait for the pearl to dissolve, and he will be ready.

Ryan hears the cannons start to fire and bounds up to the deck once again. When he reaches it, he can see that a fight is already on full swing, his crew against Rahab’s pirates. As one would expect the crew may have been human once, but is far from it now. Their bodies are in several stages of decay, as if the corpses didn’t know they were dead and just kept walking. The stench coming from them makes Ryan gag.

He hears it then, a deafening roar, unmistakable from the thunder, that shakes him to the core. The beast is getting closer, and with it, it’s owner. He goes up to the helm intending to help Teej, when he almost collides with Shane who is trying to kill an already decapitated man.

“Ryan” How do we stop these things?”

“We don’t! We need to kill Rahab! Only then the curse is broken!”  _ or he will kill me first _ , Ryan thinks darkly.

Together they manage to throw the headless man overboard and start going down to the deck again when another roar and a cackle strike through the sky. Finally, there he is, standing right in front of Ryan, smiling syrupy sweet.

“Your time is up Ryan Bergara. I have come to collect what is mine”

Ryan takes a breath in, holds it, and slowly lets it out. He discreetly inches is hand to the sword at his hip. 

“Oh, I don’t think so” he says and immediately blocks the blow that would have sliced his neck in two. 

He is faring well, considering Rahab fights with two swords, but soon Ryan gets sloppy. He is in such a hurry to get an opening, so he may get away and drink the pearly vinegar, that he leaves his side unguarded and soon the other captain has him pinned against the wall with one o the swords stuck on his shoulder.

“Huh” Rahab chuckles, smile still in place “I told you many times, your pride will be your downfall” he brings the point of his other sword to Ryan’s neck and fishes out the chain that holds the pendant.

The corners of his mouth drop down though, as soon as he sees the dragon is missing its belly.

“Where did you hide it?” the sword presses now fully into his throat “Tell me, and I may spare the lives of the rest of your crew”

Ryan only chuckles, with his hand slowly moving to the bottle “Go to hell”.

Rahab lets out a growl, but he doesn’t have much time to do anything else, for a tall, gangly form is jumping on his back and shoving the open bible on his face. He lets out a blood curling scream, as the little skin that is left on it starts to blister and bubble, filling the air with the smell of sulfur.

The beast still coiling around Ryan’s ship lets out a similar pained noise, only this time, much closer, and with renewed vigor Rahab manages to throw Shane off his back and onto the floor.

That's precisely when Ryan’s world stops, for in the span of a second, in an act so casual as someone killing a bothersome fly, Rahab has pierced his sword through Shane’s heart.

And Shane lies there. Unmoving.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Oh, look at that cliff-hanger! hahah  
> The song Ryan sings this chapter is The Star of the County Down, and I really like this version by Loreena McKennit: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=emiSeLCivm0  
> Me writing this chapter: "wait, Shane has a nut brown hair" O.O
> 
> Now onto the notes:  
> 1) As I mentioned in the chapter, the quote Shane finds is Job 41:26. If you want to know more about Leviathan, I recommend this video, that goes really in depth (ocean pun intended): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wv1l2SqLb7Q&t=6s
> 
> 2) Rahab can be considered another name for the Leviathan.
> 
> 3) Keelhauling is considered the worst punishment™ by sailors. The person would be tied to a rope and dragged under the keel of the ship that is usually covered in barnacles. It usually results in a very painful death.
> 
> 4) What Ryan says to Rahab, about slaying the serpent, etc, is a quote from Isaiah 27:1.
> 
> 5) The three creepy men with the cannonballs is a reference to Dante's Purgatorio. In it, the punishment for prideful souls is to carry heavy rocks on their backs.
> 
> 6)What Shane thinks when he realizes they are meeting the serpent is a quote from Job 41:12
> 
> 7) I clearly based Rahab in Davy Jones. Sorry not sorry haha.
> 
> Thank you again for everyone who is keeping up with this fic!! We have one more to go!!! Please let me know in the comments what you thought of this chapter! But as always, if you don't know what to say, tell me, what is your favorite buzzfeed unsolved episode?


	5. Lowlands

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Here we go! Rock and roll buckaroo!

Ryan doesn’t have time to think, only act. He needs to get to Shane, needs to get out of the wall NOW. He grits his teeth, and sucking a big breath, pulls the sword out of his shoulder. It’s not as quick as he would want, the sword is embedded deep in the wood, his flesh burns, and he wants to scream every second of the way, but manages to keep quiet and not alert Rahab who still has his attention on his friend.

The blade finally comes free and Ryan can breathe a sigh of relief. He quickly gathers his bearings, ready to attack, but that’s when he sees Shane’s bible only a few feet away, and a plan starts to form in his mind.

He snatches the book up and tucks it under his arm, then, very quietly, Ryan sneaks around Rahab who is pulling his sword out of Shane’s chest, and in a quick blow cuts off the hand still holding the blade.

Using Rahab’s surprise and his weight, Ryan manages to barrel through and push him to the same wall he had been stuck to. He pierces the captain through the heart and buries his sword to the hilt, effectively pinning him in place

“Do you think this will stop me Ryan? I will kill everyone you ever loved if you don’t hand me the pearl” he snarls, the remaining hand already going to the hilt of the blade to get himself free.

But Ryan doesn’t say anything. He grabs the arm and pushes it against the wall, then holds the open bible against the hand, piercing both with Rahab’s own sword.

The shrill screaming that ensues is agonizing, but Ryan pays it no mind, he knows it won’t be long until that crooked serpent manages to get away. 

He rushes to Shane’s side. Ryan has a hunch, not a smart one, not even a good one, but desperate. The one of a drowning man grasping at the only rope that may bring him up to the surface. You see, the pendant binds Rahab to the Leviathan, definitely, permanently. For this Ryan knows the pearl has to be swallowed in the presence of the beast, but what would happen if someone who is not Rahab swallowed it? He has no idea, only pure speculation. Ryan imagines this person would then be bound to the demon breaking its ties to Rahab and therefore, the curse. And if the curse is broken, Rahab can be killed.

This is not certain. Absolutely anything could happen, but it was Ryan’s last hope of a life of freedom, so he was going to take it. He was going to swallow the pearl and see what happens. It wasn’t like anyone would miss him if he failed.

Until.. well, until Shane. H-he cares about Shane, no he lov-.. and now he is  _ dead _ , and Ryan, Ryan  _ has _ to t-try, because if maybe he is bound to a demon he will come back, he will hold his hand again, and is selfish, is so terribly selfish, but Ryan has to try. Just like drowning men end up pushing down the very same people that try to help them.

He falls to his knees besides Shane, frantic hands going for his face, opening his mouth, the skin feels cold and pale like marble, unattainable. He fumbles with the cork of the bottle, hands shaky and vision blurry, whether with tears or rain, Ryan doesn't know, and panic is finally hitting him, no, he needs to focus, he needs to do this.

Ryan opens Shane’s mouth and pours the contents of the bottle down, holding his torso up so it doesn’t spill, then he gently lowers his body down. The pearl was completely dissolved only leaving a shiny sheen at the bottom.

He waits, and waits, the seconds tick by, but nothing happens.

Ryan failed. 

So he holds Shane’s fingers, and weeps. The battle continues around them, but he doesn’t notice a thing, a legion of angels could come down to help in his predicament, and he wouldn’t notice. He doesn't feel a thing, only pain.

Pain that is now spreading through his scalp as he is being pulled by the hair. Rahab finally got himself free and drags him across the deck. The hand on his head is stripped down to the bone, and blood from it runs freely across Ryan’s face.

Rahab lets go forcefully, dropping him on the hard wood, and immediately kicks him in the face. The blows keep coming, and Ryan is scrambling to fight them off, mind racing to come up with a solution, a counter-attack, anything that will keep him and his crew alive, but there is nothing, he already sacrificed everything.

“For the last time, you little worm, where. is . the . PEARL?”

Ryan lets out a bloody bitter chuckle “You are late. Your time is up, it’s already gone”

His eyes go wide, and his face contorts in fury, but before Rahab can do anything, another deafening roar pierces through the air and the echo of it leaves a loud ringing in Ryan’s ears. For a moment he thinks it’s only in his head, that the beating finally took its toll, but looking around he sees that the rest of the crew are also covering their ears. Even Rahab’s pirates are looking disoriented, and the man himself is stricken, peering at the distance. There, his pet stopped revolving the waters and is heading towards the Queen Mary. Ryan’s eyes follow the same path, but then he notices something is amiss.

Shane is gone.

He has a small moment of panic, searching frantically for him, his eyes sweep the deck, until Shane blinks into existence, this time, standing up. It’s all Ryan hoped for, and yet, nothing could have prepared him for it. Shane’s eyes are rolled back, showing only the milky whites, his feet barely brush the ground, and he keeps flickering in and of view.

Shane looks straight at Rahab and Ryan sees deep anger overcome his face, but when he speaks, his voice is heavier, not in pitch, but in weight. Feels old, like something ancient.

“Oh Rahab” his tone is condescending, and the man in question falls on his ass with a look of horror “You dared to try and catch him with a fishhook, and put a ring through his nose”

“Did he plead and plead with you? Did you try to coax him with smooth words?” The wind picks up even stronger around them, pushing the ship deeper into the whirlpool. At this point she is swinging from side to side, throwing people around, and the ringing only gets louder.

Yet, Shane remains unperturbed, even his voice can be heard clearly “Did you strike a bargain with him to become your slave for life? Did you make a  _ pet _ of him?” he snarls.

“No, I..” Rahab starts to babble, but with a motion of Shane’s fingers, everyone on the ship falls to their knees, with hands held in prayer. Ryan observes stunned as the captain’s every muscle spasm, and he screams in agony.

“You have only to lay a finger on him to never dare it again! Who can attack him with impunity?”

“No one beneath all heaven.”

Ryan has had enough. He gets up trembling, fighting over the hold Shane has over them all, and moves towards the pitiful form that is Rahab. He has a moment to consider the shameful sight the captain presents, so far from his earlier prideful demeanor, and Ryan does feel a little sorry. Then he pulls out his pistol and shoots him in the head.

The wind stops at once, Rahab’s crew fall to the ground like puppets with their strings cut, Shane comes back down. 

In the distance, Leviathan sinks the Queen Mary.

* * *

Shane is staring up at the ceiling, instead of the now familiar bottom of the bunker, for the first time in many days. When he came inside their cabin, Ryan was already underneath the covers, but he hesitated to join him. Ryan had been weird ever since the battle, not meeting his eyes, avoiding conversations and generally steeping on eggshells around him. Did Shane do something wrong? Did he go too overboard, was Ryan afraid of him?

He knows he died. Knows he is no longer human. Shane feels weird, his skin is too pale, colder to the touch, the wound in his chest is already healed, but turned into a purple scar. He feels the Leviathan, knows they are bounded somehow. He feels him, not like a leg, but more like you can feel your ears and your teeth and nails. 

Shane no longer reads his bible. He tried picking it up at the end of the scuffle, even while its pages were bloody, it was still readable, but he got burned when he touched it. Just like what happened to the corpse he was fighting. Just like what happened to Rahab.

Is Shane a demon now? He doesn’t feel evil, just weird, and tired, but the latter is probably due to the fact that despite the busy day he can’t sleep. Is it a demon thing? 

Giving up completely, Shane gets up quietly, and pads out of their cabin, into the serene night outside. Bypassing his usual spot, he goes all the way to the bow to see the water parting to grant the ship passage.

He leans against the railing and fishes his harmonica, Shane is sad, so he chooses a song to match. He moistens his lips and brings the instrument to his mouth, breathes in and blows out a note, then another, then breathes in the next. From there it flows naturally and Shane loses himself, wishing that the melody could wash away his sorrow.

“He made no sound, no word he said, lowlands, lowlands away my John” Shane startles at the voice and stops playing, Ryan had sneaked up on him, but still didn’t meet his eyes, peering out at the ocean below “And then I knew my love was dead, lowlands away”

“Ryan-” Shane chokes out, afraid of spooking him away, but unable to keep quiet.

“Shane-, we need to talk” came the dreaded words. Is Ryan going to send him away? Tell him he doesn’t want to have anything to do with him? That he has no place in his ship? That he can’t stand the sight-”

“I’m sorry” 

What?

“I’m sorry” Shane must have said the last part aloud, because Ryan repeated himself and is looking at him earnestly in the eye, he sees that Ryan’s filled with tears threatening to spill at any moment. Oh no, what is going on.

With Shane’s stunned silence, Ryan simply continues “I- I brought you back, and I didn’t ask if you wanted to, and maybe you had been somewhere b-better, and I took that from you, maybe forever-”

Wait, does Ryan think Shane is..-upset? But he doesn’t get a word in since Ryan just barrels on.

“And I was so selfish, I brought you back even knowing what would happen, but I couldn’t-.. just the thought of-..., and I understand if you want to go somewhere else, get away from this ship-”

“Wait, no, no, no!” Shane stops that train of thought right there “Ryan I’m not mad, there is nothing to apologize for”

“There isn’t?” he sniffles hopeful.

“No! You brought me back to life, sort of. I- I wasn’t ready to die yet. I’m grateful” he answers awkwardly.

“Oh. But,..-you were avoiding me”

“I thought you were afraid of me” Shane says sheepish, and avoids looking at Ryan, who chortles in surprise.

“Shane, sorry to break it to you, but you are not intimidating, big guy”

“Am too. Back then the crew was definitely afraid”

“Yeah, keep telling yourself that” he chuckles and Shane, incapable of doing otherwise, follows his lead.

“Seriously though, how are you feeling?”

Shane takes a moment to gather his thoughts into words “I’m..not sure. Mostly weird I think” he looks at Ryan, who motions for him to continue “I’m still me, but I feel... older somehow. I feel the Leviathan slithering in my mind”

At this, his friend looks sad again and Shane wants to undo everything that may have caused it.

“I know I have already said it, but I’m sorry” Shane takes a breath to stop him, but Ryan continues “It feels like ever since you met me I only brought disgrace on your life, first taking you away from the lighthouse, and now, this..”

“Hey, no, no, stop” Shane pulls Ryan into a bear hug, and he goes willingly, clinging just as tightly “I chose to stay with you Ry. Meeting you was the best thing that ever happened to me”

He hears Ryan’s breath hitch, and feels he starting to move, but Shane isn’t done.

“I will always follow you, for as long as you will have me. I know your heart belongs with the sea, but my heart belongs with you”

Ryan pulls back to look at him, and Shane sees the stars reflected in his eyes, then Ryan gifts him a blinding smile, and Shane wonders how starlight could ever compete.

With a smile of his own, he leans down, Ryan leans up, and their mouths meet in the middle in a sweet kiss, and Shane feels like the heavens opened up just for them.

“I love you big guy”

“I love you too little guy”

That night, Shane sleeps soundly in Ryan’s arms.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And here we are, at the end of our adventure!  
> The song Shane was playing is Lowlands, the title of this fic! You can hear my favorite version here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fIBy2u81az0
> 
> Since we are on the topic of songs, if you ever want to feel the vibes of this fic again, I made the playlist I was listening to while writing public, so you can listen to it here: https://open.spotify.com/playlist/42Ct1rG3df0BTlWyTL2ADN?si=YQjoI0YQTOiPs1uaTvQuWg
> 
> And for the last history/science notes:  
> 1) The pearl drink is a reference to Cleopatra, she did this to flex at Marc Antony in a banquet. Realistically it would take a lot longer for the pearl to dissolve, and it would have to be crushed first, but I'm operating on fanfic terms haahah!
> 
> I want to give every person who commented a huge virtual hug! Without you all, finishing this story would have been impossible, and I'm forever thankful. You made my life a lot happier.
> 
> Thank you all for reading! Please leave some comments under this chapter, and we can talk! You can also catch me on tumblr with the same user, though my blog is very random.
> 
> Hugs to you all!!


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